Loyalty
by Lizzie223
Summary: She was alone, friendless, parentless, teamless. She had absolutely nothing. At least, not until they came along. ItaSaku Non Mass AU.
1. Chapter 1

Loyalty

Chapter 1

By Lizzie223

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

7-7-7

"_She's too scared to get close to anyone because everyone who promised they would stay, turned their backs and walked away." -Unknown. _

7-7-7

Sakura stood near the edge of the cliff, looking into the rapidly moving Nagi river. She had a decision to make. A few tears dripped down from her once happy emerald eyes. _Who would care anyways? My team hates me anyway. Anyone that cared about me hates me now. _Sakura sat down, drawing her knees to her chest as more tears fell from her eyes. _All of them, my parents, Kakashi sensei, Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke. My team abandoned me, my parents disowned me, and I broke my friendship just because I had a crush on the same boy she did. _Sakura was now trembling as the moon rose even higher into the sky.

With that, Sakura stood up and took one last look at the village she grew up in. Sakura trembled as she ran towards the edge and stopped right before jumping off. _But, is this really what I want? Just throw my life away? _Sakura took a few steps away from the edge and turned towards the village, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. _This is what's best for everyone. I'm worthless. I don't think anyone would even notice. _Strengthening her resolve by those thoughts, Sakura took a few steps backward and leaned back, choking out a "goodbye", before letting gravity take control as she closed her eyes for the final time.

7-7-7

They had just gotten back from a two week long ANBU mission. Currently, it was late at night, probably around 2 or so in the morning and they were eating dango from the 24 hour dango shop which was run by one of their distant cousins, and they were sitting a couple hundred feet away from the Nagi river. Commonly, after Shisui and Itachi got back from their ANBU missions, they would brief the Hokage on their mission and go here to unwind.

It was rare. Itachi supposed, that he would have moments like these, where he didn't have to worry about his family or missions and just relax. They stayed there for a good thirty minutes, talking and finishing up their dango. Once they finished, Shisui stretched his arms wide above his head and yawned dramatically. "Well, since we're done with our dango I think we should-" Shisui was cut off as they both went completely silent, putting precise amounts of chakra in their ears to listen even more carefully. There it was again, it was extremely faint, but it was the sound of sobbing. Shisui and him looked at eachother, nodded, and teleported closer to the scene.

Now that they were closer, they could clearly see what was going on. Sasukes' teammate, Sakura, at least Itachi thought it was Sakura, was sitting near the edge, crying. She remained like that for about thirty seconds before standing up. She then ran at the edge, startling both him and Shisui, before stopping and turning back toward the village. Sending a hand signal to Shisui, Itachi turned his sharingan on and watched her even more carefully now. Shisui did the same. If worse came to worse, Shisui would have to catch her.

Abruptly, she then took a few steps backward and intentionally fell off the edge, alerting him and Shisui. Easily, Shisui shunshinned and caught her, shunshinning again to the top of the cliff. Teleporting next to them, Itachi then looked at her closely, she was definitely Sasukes' teammate, but from what Itachi could tell, she seemed like a relatively happy person. Did this have to do with the fact that Hatake and Sasuke left to train for three years like Naruto and Jiraiya? Sharing a concerned glance with Shisui, Itachi inwardly confirmed that Shisui had to knock her out already. One question drove through his mind though.

_What exactly drove her to do this? _

_A/N: So, this plot bunny wouldn't stop bothering me so I wrote it! I hope you liked it! _

_-Lizzie:D _


	2. Chapter 2

Loyalty

Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. _

7-7-7

Sakura gasped and sat up, inhaling large gulps of air. Memories from the past twenty-four hours flashed through her mind, causing her to stumble to the bathroom and heave up the contents of her stomach. _How am I alive? Did someone kidnap me? Oh gosh. I'm gonna die. What am I gonna do? _Dark spots danced in her vision and she laid down on the cold tile floor, before finally succumbing to the darkness.

7-7-7

Itachi didn't know what state to find the girl _Sakura? _In when he and Shisui came back to her room but it definitely wasn't this. She was lying on the bathroom floor, not moving except for the soft movement of breathing. Moving her onto the bed and placing the comforter up to her shoulders, he turned to Shisui. "Panic attack." He said simply before grabbing his takeout bag and sitting on the floor. Shisui followed his movements and after a quick "Itadakimasu." They were eating. "Ne, Itachi? What should we do when she wakes up and thinks we kidnapped her?" Shisui asked, nibbling on his tempura.

"We tell her we didn't." "But how is she going to believe us when we took her to an isolated hotel on the outskirts of Konoha?" "She should know who we are." "But what if she doesn't?" Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Would you rather she be put in a psych ward?" Sighing, Shisui stopped talking and picked up his tempura again. He wasn't an idiot, regardless of if she knew who they were or not, when she woke up, she'd cause a storm.

_And they would have to pick up the pieces. _

7-7-7

Sakura opened her eyes before slamming them shut again, trying to calm her racing heart. "We know you're awake, it's useless trying to pretend to sleep." A clear voice rang out. Knowing it was futile to try to pretend any longer, Sakura sat up. "Why am I here?" The one on the right _Shisui she thought, _replied. "Why don't you eat dinner and then we can talk." His smile was so similar to Naruto's that she smiled back and nodded, ignoring the small stab of hurt that shot through her. _Right now, I need to figure out what these two want. After, I'll deal with everything else._

7-7-7

Sakura looked at Itachi, who looked at Shisui, who looked at Sakura, who looked at Itachi. "Look, I understand that there's a lot of unanswered questions, but could we please have a civilized dinner conversation?" She snapped. Shisui laughed, loudly and Itachi smirked, amusement dancing in his eyes. Heat rose to her cheeks. "Shut up." She said before realizing what she said and gasping. "I'm so sorry I-" Shisui wove her off, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. "No, it's just been a while since I've seen someone snap at the geniuses of the Uchiha clan." She shyly glanced at Itachi, seeing a small smirk on his face.

_And for the life of her Sakura couldn't figure out what it meant. _

7-7-7

Sakura took a deep breath and she wiped her sweaty palms against her shirt. "I have questions." She stated. "Ask away," Shisui replied, his easy grin making her feel a little less uneasy. "Why am I here?" Itachi answered this time. "Because you decided to throw yourself off a cliff so we caught you and brought you here. I think the right question would be, why did you decide to throw yourself off a cliff?" Sakura flinched at the bluntness of his words before answering. "You wouldn't understand, besides, you both don't even_ know _me. So what I do with my personal life is none of your concern."

"It is our concern because normally when a Leaf nin tries to commit suicide you turn them in," Shisui said, not unkindly. Sakura clenched the comforter until her knuckles turned white. "Then why didn't you both turn me in?" Itachi answered this time. "We wanted to give you a chance to bring yourself back from this. However, if you attempt again…" The rest of the words went unsaid but the implication was clear. _They wouldn't hesitate to throw me in the psych ward. _To the boys' unshown surprise, she started laughing. A dry bitter sound that didn't sound quite right coming out of her mouth. It was such a change from her earlier personality that they didn't know what to think.

"That's rich, 'coming back from this?' Haha, sure! Tell me, how am I supposed to bring myself back from this?" Shisui recovered from his inward shock first and answered. "Well, you could train and find help and maybe if your parents-" Sakura laughed again, a bitter smile twisting her lips and making her look almost feral. "You guys really _don't _know me do you?" at their non-answers, she spoke again. "Then let me enlighten you.

"I'm going to give you a short story rather than the long story because honestly? You both probably have to head back to your clan compound by tomorrow before they start worrying. So let's begin, When I was little, I was bullied constantly for my hair and forehead and I would never stand up to them because I thought my prince charming would come to save me. But he never did. So it continued until one-day Ino saved me." A small smile curled her lips. "For a few years, I and Ino were the best of friends until one day I decided it was a good idea to give up my best friend for a boy. And two years later my dream came true, I was put on Sasuke's team, and to me, that meant I would definitely become his future wife." A self-deprecating laugh tore through her throat as she shook her head.

"But those were just the delusions of a love-struck little girl. Then all of a sudden we were out of the village and I felt killing intent for the first time. Then Kakashi-san-" "Wait," Shisui interjected, tilting his head. "Isn't Kakashi your sensei?" Itachi said nothing but he had a questioning glint in his eyes. Sakura smiled bitterly before answering. "I believe you two know the definition of a sensei, and Kakashi-san isn't," She put a finger to her chin. "Or wasn't, now, at least he wasn't a sensei to me." "Why?" Shisui's gaze was curious. "He only had an interest in teaching Naruto and Sasuke. And I mean, to him, I was hopeless. To be honest, I still am, but let's get back to the story ne?" She shrugged.

"So then, we got back and all of a sudden we were nominated for the chunin exams and everything was fine until the forest of death and I guess that was the first time I realized that I was weak. So I made a vow to not stand behind my teammates and I cut my hair." She shook her head. "But I still didn't try to improve myself and that resulted in me being useless once again when the Sand and Sound attacked. But then it was over! And I thought our team could become closer and I could get stronger! But then my worst nightmare came true. Sasuke and Kakashi-san announced that they would be leaving for two years on a training trip. But I told myself that I would be okay right?" She shook her head and felt the tears she was trying to keep at bay fall. "Wrong! The day after they left Naruto told me that he was leaving too for two years! But I told myself that I would be okay because I had my parents right? W-wrong." A sob tore its' way out of her throat. "T-they told me that they wanted me to become a merchant and I said no, which r-resulted in a fight that ended with them telling me I was a d-disappointment to them and disowning me." With that, she collapsed into sobs and put her face in her hands.

"You're a coward." Her face shot out of her hands and looked at Itachi in blatant shock. "Did you assume that because your life isn't perfect that warranted trying to commit suicide? Because if you did assume so, you're not only a coward but also an idiot." Sakura wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I just don't know what to do," She whispered brokenly. "I don't have parents, I don't have a team, I don't have a teacher, I don't have a home and-" Itachi would never know what drove him to say these words. Maybe it was the hope that filled her eyes after, or maybe the happiness that he knew still existed within her.

"_I'll train you." _

_A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been several months and I am so sorry about that! I will update soon, I promise. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! -Lizzie_


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